Loans bankers eyeing a deal from a Vietnamese mall operator had just that luxury recently. As is common when lending to a new client, one bank has organised a site visit, giving potential investors a chance to appraise the business. Of course, the site here is a mall in Ho Chi Minh so the site visit is nothing but a trip to the mall.
While that sounds like my idea of hell, it is also my dear wife’s version of a riveting holiday. She would no doubt be willing to offer her own appraisal services for any banks with further digging to do on the company.
Those closer to my heart should be a little more creative in picking clients. A brewery would top my list, of course, and I’d throw in a couple of exotic sovereigns in there as well. The Maldives sounds like a winner — but I think someone already thought of that.